Twin escorts brother's body home to western Michigan

Solemn duty fulfills pact between sibling soldiers.

Solemn duty fulfills pact between sibling soldiers.

June 13, 2006

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- When Brad and Brock Bucklin each joined the Army, the twins made a pact that if one died the other would escort his brother's remains back to the state. On Friday, Army Spc. Brad Bucklin stood at the funeral of his brother -- an Army corporal who died May 31 in an equipment accident in Iraq -- and explained the promise that brought him back to western Michigan. "We would not return without the other," he said. "I got to bring my brother home. It was a rough journey." Brad Bucklin was informed at his military base in Germany of the death of his brother, The Grand Rapids Press reported. "You'll be in my heart, and you'll be with me on the battlefield. We share the same hearts," he said. Several hundred people gathered at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center for a memorial service for Brock Bucklin, 28. He was buried afterward in Cascade Township Cemetery in Kent County. A military honor guard presented a folded American flag to his parents, Duane and Dawn Bucklin, of Caledonia Township. Brock Bucklin joined the Army in August 2004, about a year after his twin brother. The soldier died in Balad, Iraq, the Defense Department said. His family said the accident occurred when soldiers were lifting equipment and a chain hoist broke, striking Brock Bucklin in the neck. During the memorial service, Duane Bucklin asked any military veteran or current member of the military to stand up as he acknowledged their sacrifices. "You can't kill an American," he said. "Anyone who believes in the personification of freedom anywhere is an American."